Chandler brings poignance to Moonlight's 'Little Shop of Horrors'

"Little Shop of Horrors" is a campy horror spoof that's got it
all: a catchy doo-wop score, smart retro lyrics, a fast-paced book,
quirky characters and unusual special effects. But one thing the
musical has never had in abundance is heart. Until now.

"Little Shop of Horrors" is the story of a carnivorous plant
that devours several people at a skid-row flower shop -- all in the
name of laughs, because it's hard to summon much sympathy for the
cartoonish, one-dimensional characters.

But Kirsten Chandler is changing all that in the Moonlight
Amphitheatre's season-closing production of "Little Shop of
Horrors." Audiences got their first taste of Chandler in 2003 as
the title character in "Sweet Charity." Now they can revel in her
talents as the thoroughly tasteless shop clerk Audrey. With her
wistful, heartbreaking performance of "Somewhere That's Green,"
Chandler makes you care, and she makes the musical's bittersweet
end more poignant.

Kirby Ward directs and choreographs the Moonlight production,
which stars Scott Dreier as the nerdy florist's clerk Seymour, who
discovers an unusual plant that swiftly turns around the shop's
fortunes and helps him win Audrey's heart, but with an increasingly
bloody price. Ward's production moves swiftly, is technically solid
and is mostly well-cast.

Dreier has played the role of Seymour eight times, so he keeps
the show's engine running smoothly, but it's Chandler who steals
the show with her ditsy, baby-doll line delivery, high-pitched
squeaks, wide eyes, mincing walk and inherent sweetness that cuts
through her character's ultra-tacky clothing and sordid past.

"Little Shop" is a petite confection compared to Moonlight's
recent grand-scale "West Side Story," with just an eight-member
cast and six-piece pit band led by music director Terry
O'Donnell.

Based on a film by Roger Corman, the musical's score, book and
lyrics were written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, the
brilliant songwriting team behind Disney's "The Little Mermaid,"
"Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin."

The music and lyrics are the show's best feature, particularly
Chandler's "Somewhere That's Green" and "Dentist," the revelatory
song by Audrey's abusive boyfriend, Orin Scrivello (played with
gleeful narcissism by David Engel), who's discovered a profitable
career where he can indulge his sadistic tendencies.

The doo-wop choruses sung by the street-corner urchins Chiffon
(Kimberly Henry), Crystal (Leslie Tammone) and Ronnette (Jenn Aedo)
are usually one of the best parts of the show. But while Henry,
Tammone and Aedo have good voices individually, their harmonies
weren't in sync during Friday's performance. John Massey completes
the human cast as Seymour's cruel, materialistic boss, Mr.
Mushnik.

Creating a man-eating plant that talks and sings is easier on
film than onstage, but Donald Lee McKee (as the master puppeteer)
and singer Jimmer Bolden (as the voice) bring the fast-growing
plant, Audrey II, believably to life.